Coumermycin/novobiocin-regulated gene expression system

ABSTRACT

A chimeric transactivator comprises a transcription activation domain, a repressor protein DNA binding domain and the bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit. A target gene is operatively linked to operator DNA sequences recognized by the repressor binding domain. The addition of the antibiotic coumermycin results in a coumermycin-switched dimerization of the transactivator, which then binds to operator DNA sequences and activates transcription of the target gene. The addition of novobiocin switches off expression of the target gene by abolishing coumermycin-induced dimerization of the transactivator.

This is a national phase entry application claiming the benefit of PCT Application No. PCT/CA20041000S54, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/477,055 filed Jun. 10, 2003.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the regulation of gene expression.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Genetic manipulation of gene expression in mammals holds great potential for functional studies of particular genes and their products, and in applications for drug discovery and gene therapy. An ideal gene regulation system would be low in basal activity, but highly and specifically responsive to the induction. In addition, the expression of a given gene should be dose-responsive, and the system could be reversibly switched on or off promptly. This is particularly valuable for gene therapy in which pharmacological control over timing and levels of a particular gene expression within a therapeutic range is critical for certain diseases.

Recently, several inducible systems for mammalian cells have been developed. These with their variants include FK506/rapamycin, RU488/mifepristone, ecdysone-inducible, and tetracycline (Tet) inducible systems (1-4). Currently, the Tet-inducible system is most commonly used for regulated gene expression in vivo. Significant improvements have been made in this Tet system to reduce its basal expression level and to improve its inducibility in vivo (5). However, one major shortcoming for this system is the lack of an effective antagonist for its inducers; the potent inducer doxycycline, for example, has a considerable half-life (about 24 hr) in vivo (6). This pharmacokinetic property may exclude its use in situations where prompt and efficient on/off switching is essential, such as for gene therapy or for precise regulated expression of specific genes during development (1).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides recombinant nucleic acid molecules encoding a chimeric transactivator comprising a transcription activation domain, a repressor protein DNA binding domain, and the bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit (GyrB). The transactivator is designed to activate transcription of a target gene, where the target gene is operatively linked to operator DNA sequences recognized by the repressor protein DNA binding domain. The transactivator has a low basal activity, meaning that very little transcription of the target gene occurs unless the transactivator is enabled.

When an effective amount of coumermycin is added, coumermycin-switched dimerization of the GyrB allows the transactivator to bind to the operator DNA sequences, thus activating transcription of the target gene. The transactivator is disabled when an effective amount of novobiocin is added; novobiocin abolishes the coumermycin-induced dimerization of the transactivator, thus switching off expression of the target gene.

The system is effective for tightly regulating gene expression in stable mammalian cell lines, and is therefore useful for applications requiring rapid on/off switching of gene expression, including gene therapy.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a nucleic acid molecule encoding a biologically active chimeric transactivator protein that comprises a functional DNA binding domain of a repressor protein, wherein the binding domain is not capable of dimerization; bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit (Gyr B); and a transcription activation domain.

The present invention flier provides an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule operatively linked to an expression control sequence, the nucleic acid molecule encoding a biologically active chimeric transactivator protein that comprises a functional DNA binding domain of a repressor protein, wherein the binding domain is not capable of dimerization; bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit (Gyr B); and a transcription activation domain.

The present invention further provides a host cell comprising an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule operatively linked to an expression control sequence, the nucleic acid molecule encoding a biologically active chimeric transactivator protein that comprises a functional DNA binding domain of a repressor protein, wherein the binding domain is not capable of dimerization; bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit (Gyr B); and a transcription activation domain.

The present invention further provides a kit comprising an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule encoding a biologically active chimeric transactivator protein that comprises a functional DNA binding domain of a repressor protein, wherein the binding domain is not capable of dimerization; bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit (Gyr B); and a transcription activation domain, in a pharmaceutically suitable carrier, wherein the expression vector is administered externally, perorally, intravesicularly, nasally, introbronchially or into the gastrointestinal tract, or which is injected into an organ, into a body cavity, into the muscle system, subcutaneously or into the blood circulation, for the prophylaxis or therapy of a disease.

The present invention further provides a method for regulating the expression of a target gene in a host cell, comprising the steps of introducing into the host cell an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule operatively linked to an expression control sequence, the nucleic acid molecule encoding a biologically active chimeric transactivator protein that comprises a functional DNA binding domain of a repressor protein, wherein the binding domain is not capable of dimerization; bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit (Gyr B); and a transcription activation domain; allowing expression of the biologically active chimeric transactivator encoded by said expression vector; introducing an effective amount of coumermycin or a derivative thereof into said cell to increase expression of said target gene; and introducing an effective amount of novobiocin or a derivative thereof into said cell to decrease expression of said target gene.

The present invention further provides a method for regulating expression of a therapeutic gene product to a patient in need of said therapeutic gene product, comprising introducing into a patient an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule operatively linked to an expression control sequence, the nucleic acid molecule encoding a biologically active chimeric transactivator protein that comprises a functional DNA binding domain of a repressor protein, wherein the binding domain is not capable of dimerization; bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit (Gyr B); and a transcription activation domain; treating the patient with an effective amount of coumermycin or a derivative thereof, said coumermycin binding to said transactivator, thereby activating expression of the gene encoding said therapeutic gene product; and treating the patient with an effective amount of novobiocin or a derivative thereof, said novobiocin binding to said transactivator, thereby preventing transcription and deactivating expression of the gene encoding said therapeutic gene product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a schematic representation of the coumarin-regulated system.

FIG. 1B is a map illustrating one possible embodiment of the expression vectors.

FIG. 1C is a map illustrating a second possible embodiment of the expression vectors.

FIG. 2A shows the results after testing the ability of the double plasmid and single plasmid expression vectors to activate the GFP gene in 293A cells.

FIG. 2B shows the results after testing the ability of the double plasmid and single plasmid expression vectors to activate the luciferase gene in 293A cells.

FIG. 3 shows results of an assay testing the basal activity and coumermycin-induced activity of transactivator comprising mutated λ repressor.

FIG. 4A shows results of an assay testing activation of the luciferase gene at various concentrations of coumermycin.

FIG. 4B shows results of an assay testing activation of the luciferase gene by coumermycin over a period of 72 hours.

FIG. 5A shows results of an assay testing activation of the luciferase gene at various concentrations of novobiocin.

FIG. 5B shows results of an assay testing activation of the luciferase gene in the presence of coumermycin alone and in the presence of both coumermycin and novobiocin, over a 50 hour period.

FIG. 6A shows a Western blot analysis of cell lysate and cytosol protein fraction from k562 cells with and without coumermycin treatment.

FIG. 6B shows a flow cytometric analysis of k562 cells with and without coumermycin treatment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To fulfill the requirement of precise and efficient on/off interchange for regulated gene expression, we have explored the use of coumarin antibiotics as inducer and counter-inducer. Coumermycin is a natural Streptomyces product consisting of two identically substituted coumarin rings joined by a methyl pyrrole linker (7). A related antibiotic, novobiocin, can be considered as the monomer of coumermycin. Both coumermycin and novobiocin bind to the amino-terminal subdomain (24K) of the bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit (GyrB) (SEQ ID NOS. 1 and 2) resulting in inhibition of bacterial growth (8). Coumermycin binds GyrB with a stoichiometry of 1:2, while its monomeric novobiocin binds GyrB as 1:1 ratio; hence, coumermycin acts as a natural dimerizer of GyrB while novobiocin acts as an antagonist for coumermycin by dissociating dimerized GyrB (9). Derivatives of coumermycin having the ability to bind to and dimerize GyrB, and derivatives of novobiocin having the ability to bind to GyrB and prevent its dimerization, would also be suitable for this system.

To make coumermycin an effective inducer, the DNA binding domain of a repressor protein may be used. The repressor protein should retain its ability to bind operable DNA when its dimerization domain has been deleted. One suitable repressor protein is the λ repressor (λR) (SEQ ID NOS. 5 and 6), the cl gene product of bacteriophage λ, as only its homodimer can bind to λ operator (λOP) DNA (10). λR is composed of an N-terminal domain (residues 1-92) and a C-terminal domain (residues 132-236)(11). The binding of the two N-terminal domains to operator DNA is mainly driven by the C-terminal domain-mediated homodimerization of the repressor though the N-terminal domain itself retains a weak dimerization activity (12). Thus, we have constructed a coumarin-modulated chimeric transactivator by fusing the N-terminal domain of λR to GyrB followed by a transcription activation domain at the C-terminus. Suitable transcription activation domains include those from transcription factors NFκB p65, VP16, B42, and Ga14. Here we describe the development of such a coumermycin/novobiocin-regulated gene expression system and demonstrate that in combination with directed mutagenesis of λR for reduction of basal activity, the expression of genes in vivo is effectively and reversibly regulated by coumarin antibiotics through dimerization of the chimeric λR-GyrB transactivator. This new inducible gene expression system should facilitate functional genome research and broaden the utility of regulated gene expression, particularly for gene therapy and other applications requiring rapid and thorough on/off switching.

Coumermycin-induced dimerization of GyrB-fusion proteins has recently been explored for characterization of a number of signal transduction pathways (7,19). As with these reports, employing coumermycin/novobiocin to switch dimerization of chimeric λR-GyrB transactivator possesses several favorable characteristics, and offers particular advantages for in vivo gene expression. First, both coumermycin and novobiocin bind GyrB with high affinity (Kd 3-5×10⁻⁸M)(20), resulting in potent activity of these coumarins at very low concentrations for induction and anti-induction of GyrB dimerization. Indeed, we found that coumermycin was able to induce appreciable gene expression via dimerization of the λR-GyrB transactivator at a concentration as low as 0.5 nM. Second, the specificity of these coumarin antibiotics for the prokaryotic enzyme is well established; no endogenous binding targets with high affinity are known to exist in mammalian cells. This makes coumermycin a very favorable inducer for regulated gene expression in mammalian cells. Thirdly, both coumermycin and novobiocin display excellent pharmacokinetic properties in vivo as the reported serum half-life for coumermycin is 5.5 hr (21) and for novobiocin is 6 hr (22). In addition, novobiocin is clinically approved for antibiotic use. For coumermycin, extensive animal testing at concentrations effectively exerting antibacterial activity has also revealed no overt toxicity. In the current system, we demonstrate that coumermycin can effectively induce gene expression at concentrations between 0.5 nM and 50 nM, a fairly broad dose range for administration of the drug in vivo. The concentration of coumermycin in this dose range for induction is far below 20 μM, a dose causing cellular toxicity in vivo. However, higher doses of coumermycin (>0.5 μM) have caused a reduced induction of gene expression in this system (FIG. 4A). This is due to the fact that at high concentration of coumermycin the excess drug will lead to dissociation of GyrB dimer.

In comparison with the Tet-inducible system, one advantage offered by the λR-GyrB system is its very rapid on-off switching for controlled gene expression. Two unique features in this system contribute to this valuable function. First, both coumermycin and novobiocin, as mentioned before, have a very short in vivo half-life (6 hr) that is about one-third of Tet-inducer doxycycline (12-24 hr) (23). More importantly, in this λR-GyrB system, novobiocin, the monomeric form of coumermycin, can be used as an anti-inducer to block coumermycin-induced gene expression, thus making novobiocin a valuable antagonist to coumermycin for prompt shutdown of the drug-induced gene expression as demonstrated in this study (FIG. 5B). Although the binding affinity of novobiocin to GyrB is comparable to that of coumermycin, the concentration of novobiocin required to completely block the coumermycin-induced gene expression is approximately a thousand-fold that of the inducer. This is consistent with the previous report for dissociation of Raf-GyrB dimer (24). One explanation for this is that while nanomolar concentration of coumermycin (1 nM) would dimerize enough GyrB molecules (about 2 nM) to bind operator sites for activation, novobiocin has to saturate all GyrB molecules existing in the cells to prevent their dimerization for dissociation of the dimerized GyrB molecules through competition with coumermycin. The total concentration of GyrB molecules accumulated in the cells could greatly exceed the dimerized GyrB molecules in this inducible system.

The inducibility of this λR-GyrB-based system, as with other regulated gene expression systems, is dependent on the activation potency of the transactivator and on the magnitude of basal expression, the latter of which is contributed primarily by the intrinsic dimerization capability of λR-GyrB in the absence of coumermycin. As reported previously (12), the N-terminal domain of wild type a retain an appreciable capacity for intrinsic dimerization through the helix5-helix5 interaction, which in this system led to a high basal expression level. We therefore performed a random mutagenesis on the related residues in this domain, and found that a number of mutation resulted in substantially reduced basal levels. A single mutation of Ser 93 to Gly present in one of the many mutant constructs characterized, mutant 25, was shown to greatly reduce the basal expression level in absence of coumermycin, but maintained an activity comparable to the wild type. This S93G mutant thus offers very desirable properties for this λR-GyrB based gene regulation system as demonstrated by read generation of stable cell lines for inducible expression of the apoptotic Bax gene. It is noteworthy that in this system, use of the strong CMV immediate-early promoter resulted in a significant higher background in comparison with the relatively weak SV40 early promoter in 293A cells (data not shown), probably due to the fact that the CMV-directed high level expression of the transactivator may have induced a concentration dependent auto-dimerization of the chimeric λR-GyrB transactivator in the cells. For this reason, we have used the SV40 early promoter for constitutively expression of the chimeric λR-GyrB transactivator. Other suitable promoters include promoters from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), EF1, and thymine kinase (TK) genes. To increase the activation potency of the transactivator controlled by the relatively weak the SV40 early promoter, a positive regulatory feedback construct was designed by insertion of at least one, and preferably four λOP sites between the basal SV40 early promoter sequence and the CMV-derived TATA box sequences. Hence, this coumarin-regulated λR-GyrB expression system with mutated λR, such as S93G, exhibits a very high level of inducibility and demonstrates rapid and reversible on-off switching of gene expression. This system can complement the other reported regulatory systems in use and should prove to be particularly valuable for precise regulated expression of specific genes during development and in gene therapy.

To create this coumerin-regulated gene expression system, an expression cassette containing the chimeric transactivator gene is created. A transgene, the gene whose expression is to be regulated, may be included in the same expression cassette or in a separate expression cassette.

Any expression vector or integrated expression vector a may be used to create an expression cassette for this coumerin-regulated system. The cassette can be moved to any other vector for expression; particularly suitable viral vectors for this purpose include adenovirus; adeno-associated virus, retrovirus, lentivirus, and herpes simplex type I virus.

The expression cassette may be delivered into cells in vivo and in vitro, and may, with a pharmaceutically suitable carrier be delivered into humans. A person skilled in the art may select among the various vectors and other expression and delivery elements depending on such factors as the site and route of administration. For example, expression plasmid vectors in combination with transfection reagents such as liposomal and non-liposomal lipid reagents, may be directly injected into tissue or introduced by intravenous administration. Preferably, however, the expression cassette is delivered through the use of viral vectors such as adenovirus, adeno-associated virus, retrovirus, lentivirus, and herpes simplex type I virus.

The expression cassette and vector may be made available in the form of a kit, along with a pharmaceutically suitable carrier, for therapeutical treatment of a patient.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A. In the presence of inducer coumermycin, the constitutively produced chimeric transactivator is dimerized and bound to λOP to turn ON the transgene as well as to promptly increase the expression of the chimeric transactivator itself through execution of the activation domain (AD). Addition of novobiocin in cells causes dissociation of the dimerized transactivator to switch OFF the transgene and render the constitutive expression of the transactivator.

FIG. 1B. Two plasmids, designated pLuc and pGyrB, are designed for separate expressions of the coumerin-regulated transgene (Luc) and the transactivator λR-GyrB-AD, respectively.

FIG. 1C. The two expression cassettes for the coumerin-regulated transgene and the transactivator are built into one plasmid pLUR. TATA, the CMV mini-promoter; AD, transcription activation domain of p65-NFκB; λop, λ repressor binding site.

FIG. 2A. Either two plasmids pGFP and pGyrB (double plasmids, each 0.5 μg), or one plasmid pCUR (1.0 μg) containing the GFP gene (single plasmid), were transiently transfected into 293A cells. Coumermycin (5 nM) was added after 3 hr transfection and photographs were taken after additional 40 hrs.

FIG. 2B. Either two plasmids pLuc and pGyrB (DP, each 0.2 μg), or one plasmid pCUR (0.4 μg) containing the Luc gene (SP), were transiently transfected into 293A cells, respectively. Luciferase activity was measured after 40 hr induction with coumermycin (5 nM) in triplicate. The results shown are the means for triplicate determinations and representative of 3 experiments. The transfection efficiencies were normalized by co-transfection of pRL-TK vector constitutively producing Renilla luciferase.

FIG. 3. Cells stably transfected with the reporter plasmid pLuc were transiently transfected with plasmid pGyrB (0.2 μg), either containing the wild type AR, or its mutant clone 25 (S93G), 33 (V92C/S93W), 54 (V92L/S93E), 64 (V92L/S93L), 76 (V92C/S93F) and 77 (V92T/S93T). The transfection efficiencies were normalized by co-transfection of pRL-TK vector constitutively producing Renilla luciferase. After 3 hr following transfection, the transfected cells were induced with coumermycin (5 nM) for 40 hr, and luciferase activities was measured from lysed cells. The results shown are the means for triplicate determinations and representative of 3 experiments.

FIG. 4A. Cells from clone 5 obtained by stably transfection with mutant S92G were induced with various concentration of coumermycin for 40 hr.

FIG. 4B. The same cells were induced with 5 nM coumermycin for various times as indicated. Results represent two independent experiments performed in triplicate.

FIG. 5A. Cells of stable clone S93G-5 were induced with 5 nM coumermycin together with various concentration of novobiocin for 40 hr and luciferase activity was measured. Results represent two independent experiments performed in triplicate.

FIG. 5B. Cells of stable clone S93G-5 were induced with coumermycin for 11 hr first, and then novobiocin was added to a final concentration of 2.5 μM. At different points of time, cells were collected for luciferase activity assay. Results shown are the means for triplicate determinations and representative of 3 experiments.

FIG. 6A. Clone K562-Bax 65, which was obtained from stably transfection with two plasmids pGyrB and pBax, was used. Cells were induced for 36 hr with coumermycin (5 nM). Western blot analysis was performed in cytosol protein fraction (30 μg) of the cells with a mouse anti-cytochrome C monoclonal antibody (Lower panel) or in whole cell extracts from 5×10⁵ cells with a rabbit polyclonal anti-mouse Bax antibody specifically reactive to mouse Bax (Upper panel).

FIG. 6B. Flow cytometric analysis of apoptotic K562-Bax cells and K562 wild type cells were performed with and without coumermycin treatment for 36 hr.

PROCEDURES AND EXAMPLES

Cell Culture, Medium, and Chemicals

Human embryonic kidney 293A cells (ATCC) were maintained in DMEM medium, supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum at 37° C. in 5% CO₂. Human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells (ATCC) were maintained in RPMI1640 medium, supplemented with 2.0 mM L-glutamine, and 10% fetal bovine serum at 37° C. in 5% CO₂. Stable 293A cell lines were selected or maintained in either 200 or 150 μg/ml hygromycin B (Invitrogen) respectively and 1200 or 600 μg/ml G418 (MultiCell) respectively. K562 stable cell lines were selected and maintained in 400 μg/ml hygromycin B.

Construction of the Coumarin-Responsive Expression Cassette pLuc, pGFP and pBax

The mini promoter sequence from the immediate-early gene of human cytomegalovirus (CMV*) was amplified by PCR from pUHD 10-3 vector (13) with a sense primer containing XbaI site and the anti-sense primer containing restriction sites, AscI and HpaI. The amplified sequence was inserted into pG5CAT (Clontech) at the XbaI and HpaI sites, producing pG5CMV*. The green fluorescent protein (GEP) gene was PCR amplified from pEGFP-C1 (Clontech) and inserted into pG5CMV*, resulting in pG5CMV*-GFP. Four and 12 copies of λ operator domain (4×λOP and 12×λOP) (14) were generated by annealing and multiple self-ligation of two synthetic oligonucleotide: 5′-TCGAGTTTACCTCTGGCGGTGATAG-3′ (SEQ. ID NO. 9) and 5′-TCGACTATCAC CGCCAG AGGTAAAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO. 10). The multiple self-ligated product was selected from 4 and 12 copies of λOP and digested with XhoI and SalI, and cloned into pG5CMV*-GFP at the same sites to produce 4×λopGFP and 12×λopGFP (pGFP). The firefly luciferase (Luc) coding sequence (accession M15077) was PCR amplified from Luc vector (Promega). The amplified product was cloned into p12×λopGFP at AscI and HpaI, resulting in pLuc (SEQ ID NO. 29). Similarly, the mouse Bax coding sequence (accession L22472) was PCR amplified and cloned into p12×λopGFP at AscI and HpaI, resulting in pBax.

Construction of the Expression Cassette for the Chimeric λR-GyrB Transactivator

To construct the pcDNA3-λR-GyrB transactivator with neomycin or hygromycin as a selection marker, the N-terminal DNA binding domain (residues 1-131) of the bacteriophage A repressor (λR)(10) was PCR amplified and cloned into pcDNA3 (Invitrogen) at HindIII (klenow blunted) and EcoRV sites, producing pcDNA3λR131. The amino-terminal 24K subdomain bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit (GyrB)(8) was PCR amplified from the genomic DNA of Escherichia coil DH 5α strain to produce pGEMT-GyrB. The p65 NFκB activation domain (AD_(NFκB)) was PCR amplified with appropriate restriction sites in the primers from pCMV-AD vector (Stratagene). The amplified product was cloned into pGEMT-GyrB at NcoI and XbaI, producing pGEMT-GyrB-NFκB that was further cloned into PcDNA3-λR131 at EcoRV and XbaI sites. The resultant plasmid was designated pcDNA3-λR131-GyrB-NFκB. To construct the SV40 promoter-directed coumarin-responsive expression cassette, 4×λop together with the mini CMV* promoter (13) was amplified by PCR from the 4×λopGFP with appropriate primers. The amplified fragment was cloned into the NcoI and SmaI sites of the pM vector (Clontech), which contains the SV40 early promoter (15), producing pMSV40e-4×λop-CMV*. The ΔR131-GyrB-NFκB cassette was PCR amplified from pcDNA3-λR131-GyrB-NFκB, and cloned into pMSV40e-4×λop-CMV* to produce pMSV40e-4×λop-CMV*-λR131-GyrB-NFκB, named pGyrB. Construction of pCUR Containing the Coumarin-Regulated Two Gene Expression Cassette

To construct one plasmid containing both the expression cassette for the chimeric λR-GyrB transactivator and the expression cassette for coumarin-responsive gene, the SV40e-4×λop-λR131 fragment was isolated from pMSV40e4×λop-λR131-GyrB-NFκB following digestion with AatII blunt and EcoRV, and cloned into pcDNA3-λR131-GyrB-NFκB at NruI and EcoRV sites, producing pcDNA3-SV40e-4×λop-λR131-GyrB-NFκB. Next, the 12×λopLuc fragment was isolated from Pluc by SmaI digestion, and cloned into pcDNA3-SV40e-4×λop-λR131-GyrB-NFκB at NdeI blunt, producing pcDNA3-12×λopLuc-SV40e-4×λop-λR131-GyrB-NFκB, which was designated pCUR.

Mutagenesis of the λ Repressor 131 DNA Binding Domain

Amino acid substitutions in the λ131 DNA binding domain at residues 85, 92 and 93, were performed as recommended by the manufacturer of the QuikChange™ Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit (Stratagene). Briefly, two complimentary 42 bp specific primers covering residues 85, 92 and 93 were synthesized containing a VNN (V=A, C, G and N=A, C, G, T) codon for each of the 85, 92 and 93 residues. Standard thermocycling reactions were performed using Pfu Turbo (Stratagene) with the template DNA of pcDNA3-λR131-GyrB-ADNFκB. The PCR product was fully digested with DpnI and transformed into XL2-Blue (Stratagene). Single colonies were isolated and sequenced to define amino acid substitutions. Mutant clones were primarily screened by transient co-transfection with pGFP to evaluate inducibilities and background fluorescence intensities. Suitable candidates were further evaluated by transient or stable co-transfection with pLuc into 293A cells to fully characterize their inducible capability and basal expression levels.

Stable Cell Line Production and Luciferase Assays

Exponentially growing 293A cells were seeded at 8×10⁵ in 60 mm dishes the day prior to transfection and co-transfected with 5 μg of XmnI linearized pLuc and 0.2 μg of pcDNA3.1 hygromycin using the SuperFect kit (Qiagen). Alternatively, the cells were transfected with PvuI linearized pCUR. Two days following transfection, the cells were replaced into 100 mm dishes, and selected with appropriate antibiotics for 2 weeks. Single clone was selected for further assay. To assay Luc activity, 1×10⁵ cells were seeded in a 24-well plate (Corning Inc. Costar) and induced immediately with 5 nM coumermycin. After 40 hrs induction, cells were lysed in 100 μl lysis buffer (Promega) for 20 min. Luc activity was determined using 20 μl of total cell lysate using the Dual-Luciferase Reporter Assay System (Promega). The reporter firefly luciferase activities were measured and normalized by the transfection efficiencies estimated by the activities of Renilla luciferase constitutively expressed from cotransfected pRL-TK. For inducible expression of the Bax gene, wild-type K562 cells were transfected using electroporlation with 5 μg DNA of the linearized pBax and pGyrB. Cell lines were selected with hygromycin and positive clones were screened in the induced and non-induced states using anti-Bax antibody visualized by Western blot.

Preparation of Cytosolic Extract and Immunoblotting

K562 (10⁶) wild type and K562 cells (10⁶), which were stably transfected with pBax and pGyrB, were seeded in 35 mm dishes and induced with 5 nM coumermycin. For immunoblotting, 36 hrs following induction the cells were lysed with 2× loading buffer at 100° C. for 5 minutes. For cytosolic extraction, cells (10⁷) were seeded and after 36 hrs induction the cells were washed twice with cold PBS (MultiCell) followed by centrifugation at 200×g for 5 min. The cell pellets were resuspended in 300 μl of extraction buffer containing 220 mM mannitol, 68 mM sucrose, 50 mM Pipes-KOH, pH 7.4, 50 mM KCL, 5 mM EGTA, 2 mM MgCl₂, 1 mM EDTA, 1 mM dithiothreito, and protease inhibitors. After 30 min incubation on ice, cells were homogenized using a glass dounce and a B pestle for 80 strokes. Homogenized cells were spun at 14,000×g for 15 min, and the supernatant was removed and stored at −80° C. until for SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Cyctosolic protein extract (30 μg) was boiled for 5 min and electrophoresed on a 15% SDS-polyacrylamide gel. The proteins were transferred to nitrocellulose membrane (Hybond ECL) and blocked in 10% nonfat milk/TBST (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 150 mM NaCl, 0.05% Tween 20) for 1 h at room temperature. The membrane was probed with either a rabbit polyclonal anti-mouse Bax anti body (Santa Cruz Biotechnology) that appeared to specifically react to mouse Bax as previously reported (16) or with a mouse anti-cytochrome C monoclonal antibody (BD pharMingen Technical). The secondary antibody was conjugated with horseradish peroxidase.

Flowcytometry

Cells (10⁶) in 35 mm dishes were treated with 5 nM coumermycin for 36 hours and then stained for apoptosis detection using the Annexin-V-Flous staining kit (Roche, Mannheim). The analysis was performed on 10,000 cells using a Coulter EPICS™ XL-MCL flowcytometer (Beckman-Coulter, Hieleah, Fla.) equipped with 15 mW at 488 nm argon ion laser as an excitation source. Total cell population was selected using forward scattering and side scattering parameters with a 488 nm dichroic long pass filter. The FITC green fluorescence emission was detected using a 550 nm dichroic long pass and a 525 nm band pass filter set. Red fluorescence from Propidium Iodide stained cells was detected using a 645 nm dichroic long pass and a 620 nm band pass filter set.

Example 1 Constructs for Expression of the Chimeric λR-GyrB Transactivator and the Target Transgenes

To construct a coumarin-regulated gene expression system, the N-terminal domain of the bacterial phage λ repressor (λR) (codons 1-131) (SEQ ID NOS. 7 and 8) was fused to the GyrB domain (codons 2-220 of bacterial DNA gyrase) (SEQ ID NOS. 3 and 4). A transcription activation domain, p65 NFκB, was further fused to the C-terminus of the GyrB domain to make a chimeric transactivator. Expression of the chimeric transactivator is controlled by a hybrid promoter consisting of the basal SV40 early promoter sequence up to −52 (15) and a TATA box from the CMV promoter (13). In addition, four binding sites of λ operator (λOP) were inserted between the SV40 and the TATA box sequences. To regulate transgene expression, twelve copies of the λ operator (λOP) site (14) were placed directly upstream of the CMV mini-promoter (13) to control downstream gene expression. In this regulator system, the hybrid SV40-CMV promoter constitutively directs a moderate expression of the chimeric transactivator in cells. Addition of coumermycin induces dimerization of the transactivator, resulting in binding of λR to the λOP sites, thus increasing the production of the transactivator in a manner of positive regulatory feedback and activating the expression of the target transgene. The transactivator dimers induced by coumermycin can be dissociated by addition of novobiocin, thereby immediately turning off expression of the transgene (FIG. 1A). The expression cassette for the chimeric transactivator and the coumermycin/novobiocin-responsive transgene expression cassette, containing the reporter gene (Luc or GFP), are either built into two separate plasmids, pLuc and pGyrB (FIG. 1B), for co-transfection or for two-stage establishment of stable cell lines, or built into one plasmid (pCUR) for convenient one-stage establishment of inducible lines (FIG. 1C).

Example 2 Coumermycin-Dependent Functional Characterization of the Chimeric λR-GyrB Transactivator

To examine whether the chimeric transactivator λR-GyrB-NFkB is coumermycin-responsive for induction of gene expression, we cloned two reporter genes, encoding luciferase (Luc) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) into the transgene expression cassette of both the two-plasmid- and one-plasmid-inducible expression systems. The constructs were transiently transfected into HEK 293A cells. The transfected cells were induced by addition of coumermycin for 40 hrs. As shown in FIG. 2A, GFP expression was greatly induced for both systems in 293A cells. Similar results were observed with reporter luciferase (FIG. 2B). The inducibilities of luciferase activity in both cassettes are comparable, around 50-fold induction. This moderate inducibility in this regulatory system may be explained at least in part by its relatively high basal activity as indicated by a low, but apparent expression of GFP in the absence of coumermycin (FIG. 2A).

Example 3 Mutation of the λ Repressor DNA Binding Domain for Elimination of its Intrinsic Dimerization

In order to improve the induction efficiency of this λR-GyrB based regulatory system, efforts were made to minimize its basal expression level. It is known that although the C-terminal domain of λR, residues 132-236, is mainly responsible for mediating the homodimerization of the repressor, residues in helix 5 in the N-terminal domain, such as Ile-85, Val-92 and Ser-93, are also involved in dimerization for binding of λR to the operator (12). The observed basal activity of transactivator λR-GyrB-NFκB in 293A cells is likely contributed by the helix5-helix5 interaction. To reduce the basal activity of this inducible system, we performed a PCR-based random mutagenesis for each residue of Ile-85, Val-92 and Ser-93 potentially involved in the helix5-helix5 interaction of λR. Over one hundred potential mutant constructs in pGyrB located in the λR-GyrB-NFκB transactivator were generated and transiently transfected with the coumarin responsive luciferase reporter gene (pLuc) into 293A cells for evaluation of their basal expression levels and inducibilities. Dramatic variation was observed in the activities of these mutants in response to coumermycin. In general, the identified mutants in these three sites displayed less activity in induction when compared with parental. However, the basal expression levels of most mutants were significantly lower than that of the wild type. After comparing their inducibilities, seven mutant constructs, namely clone 25 (S93G), 33 (V92C and S93W), 54 (V92L and S93E), 64 (V91L and S92L), 76 (V92C and S93F), and 77 (V92T and S93T) (see Table I), were chosen for further study of their capabilities for induction. For this, these constructs were transiently transfected into 293A cells in which the coumarin responsive luciferase reporter gene was stably transfected. Luciferase activity was measured in transfected cells treated with coumermycin. As shown in FIG. 3, although nearly all of these mutants displayed some reduction in activity in response to coumermycin, the magnitude of induction for most of these mutants was significantly increased due to reduction of their basal expression levels from the wild type. Most notably mutant S93G (#25) exhibited an inducible activity comparable to the wild type, and a very low basal expression level, resulting in a 1,460-fold induction. Similar results were observed in HeLa cells (data not shown). To further characterize this mutant, S93G-mutated chimeric transactivator was integrated into plasmid pCUR for one-stage establishment of inducible lines in 293A cells. Stable clones were selected and analyzed for their responsiveness to coumermycin. All 50 stable clones tested were coumermycin responsive with varied inducible activities. Luciferase activity assays revealed that the magnitude of induction was over three orders in approximately 30% of coumermycin responsive clones isolated due to very low basal expression levels. Of particular interest were clones 23 and 44, which exhibited over 10,000-fold induction following coumermycin treatment (Table II).

TABLE I Mutation in λ represser Clone Amino acid exchanges Wild type Ile 85 Val 92 Ser 93 25 Gly 33 Cys Trp 54 Leu Glu 64 Leu Leu 76 Cys Phe 77 Thr Thr The three residues, Ile 85, Val 92 and Ser 93 of λ repressor, were randomly mutated. Seven mutant constructs with amino acid substitutions as listed exhibited high inducibilities and were chosen for characterization.

TABLE II Coumermycin-dependent luciferase activity of different clones Luciferase Activity (Arbitrary Light Units/μg protein) Clone Without Coum With Coum Activation factor 5 9.4 ± 0.7 47,460 ± 447  5.1 × 10³ 8 35.8 ± 9.2   52,408 ± 2,254 1.5 × 10³ 10 0.5 ± 0.1 1,591 ± 100 3.2 × 10³ 18 1.3 ± 0.4 7,446 ± 36  5.8 × 10³ 23 0.6 ± 0.1 8,237 ± 204 1.4 × 10⁴ 28 2.4 ± 0.2 12,292 ± 550  5.1 × 10³ 34 8.1 ± 0.9  46,980 ± 1,300 5.8 × 10³ 44 2.4 ± 0.6  30151 ± 2020 1.3 × 10⁴ 45 1.2 ± 0.2 1,909 ± 24  1.6 × 10³ 47 4.1 ± 0.5 8,528 ± 43  2.1 × 10³ Cells were stably transfected with pCUR containing the Luc gene. All of neomycin-resistant 50 clones tested were coumermycin-responsive. Ten clones with high inductions were chosen to characterize their inducibility in absence and presence of coumermycin (5 nM) through luciferase activity assay. Values are means of three independent luciferase determinations from three independently cell cultures.

Example 4 Coumermycin Responsiveness in Stable Cell Lines and Ready Switch-Off of the Induced Expression by Novobiocin

The kinetic characteristics of this inducible system were further examined in stable cell lines. To study the dose-responsiveness of expression, the luciferase activity of cells treated for 40 hrs with varying concentration of coumermycin was assayed in a stable cell clone S93G-5 that displays a medium inducibility. As shown in FIG. 4A, luciferase expression was induced by coumermycin in a dose-dependent manner. Apparent induction of luciferase expression was observed at a concentration of the antibiotic as low as 0.5 nM (approximately 0.5 ng/ml). Maximal induction was achieved at a concentration of 2.5-5 nM coumermycin. The inducibility of coumermycin was decreased at 50 nM concentration, hence a fairly broad dosage range (more than 10-fold) is available for induction with this drug. Appreciable luciferase activity was detected after 5 hr induction (data not shown), and the maximal inducibility was observed after 24 hr-induction (FIG. 4B).

To study whether novobiocin, the monomer of coumermycin, is able to switch off the coumermycin-induced expression of luciferase, various concentrations of novobiocin were incubated together with 5 nM coumermycin in 293A cells for 40 hr. Luciferase activity assay revealed that the coumermycin-induced expression of luciferase was effectively inhibited in a dose-dependent manner. At a concentration of 5 μM novobiocin, however, over 98% of the coumermycin-induced luciferase expression was suppressed (FIG. 5A). It should be noted that coumermycin at 10 μM concentration and novobiocin at 25 μM concentration do not exert any detectable cellular toxicity as judged by cell growth rate and transient expression of transfected CMV-GFP construct in the cells (data not shown). To further demonstrate the switch-off capability of novobiocin for this inducible system, clone S93G-5 cells were induced with 5 nM coumermycin for 11 hr, after which novobiocin was added into the culture to 2.5 μM concentration. The luciferase assay showed that while luciferase activity continuously increased for a period of more than 24 hr in the control culture, novobiocin at a concentration of 2.5 μM nearly completely switched off the coumermycin-induced expression of luciferase in less than 4 hr following its administration (FIG. 4B). These results clearly demonstrated that novobiocin is a suitable antagonist of coumermycin for rapid and effective shutdown of transgene expression in this inducible system.

Example 5 Tightly Regulated Expression of the Apoptotic Gene BAX in k562 Cells With the Mutated Chimeric Transactivator

It has been reported that high-level expression of Bax (Bcl2-associated X protein) elicits apoptosis in a variety of human cancer cells (17). In malignant hematopoietic cells, including k562, Bax overexpression leads to apoptosis of the transfected cells through cytochrome C release (18). To evaluate the tightness of gene expression regulated by the chimeric transactivator, the apoptotic Bax gene was cloned into the transgene-expression cassette from the two-plasmid induction system previously described. Both wild type and S93G mutant transactivator in plasmid pGyrB were co-transfected with pBax plasmid into K562 cells. Stable clones harboring the both plasmids were isolated and characterized following induction. Western blot analysis revealed that clones with highly inducible expression of Bax were hardly identified among the wild type transactivator-transfected cells as the majority of isolated clones displayed either no additional inducible or poorly inducible expression of Bax (data not shown). However, clones with highly inducible expression of Bax were readily isolated from cells transfected with the transactivator mutant S93G. As shown in FIG. 6A from one representative clone S93G-Bax 65, Bax expression was greatly induced in the cells treated with coumermycin for 36 hr. Concomitantly, cytochrome c was released in substantial amounts from mitochondria in response to coumermycin treatment for 36 hr. Fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS) analysis consistently confirmed that while the drug did not induce additional cell death in parental cells (FIG. 6B, upper panel) treatment of S93G-Bax 65 cells with coumermycin increased the fraction of apoptotic cells from 6.7% to 45.5% (FIG. 6B, lower panel), a result comparable to that observed in the Tet-system (18). These results demonstrate that this system with mutated S93G transactivator is tightly regulated by coumermycin to express the apoptosis-inducing gene in mammalian cells.

Abbreviations: GFP, green fluorescent protein; GyrB, bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit; CMV, human cytomegalovirus; λR, λ repressor; λOP, λ operator; FACS, fluorescence-activated cell sorter;

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1. A nucleic acid molecule encoding a biologically active chimeric transactivator protein comprising: a) a functional DNA binding domain of a bacteriophage λ repressor protein, comprising amino acids 1-131 thereof (SEQ ID NO.: 8) and further comprising an amino acid mutation at at least one position selected from V92 and S93, such that the binding domain is not capable of dimerization; b) bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit (Gyr B); and c) a transcription activation domain.
 2. A nucleic acid molecule as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transcription activation domain is selected from the group consisting of NFκB p65, VP16, B42 and Gal4.
 3. A nucleic acid molecule as claimed in claim 1 wherein the transcription activation domain is a transcription activation domain from NFκB.
 4. A nucleic acid molecule as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bacterial DNA gyrase B subunit comprises the amino acid sequence set forth as SEQ ID NO.:
 4. 5. A nucleic acid molecule as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mutation of λ repressor is selected from the group consisting of V92C and S93W; V92L and S93E; V92L and S93L and S93G.
 6. A nucleic acid molecule as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mutation of λ repressor is S93G.
 7. An expression vector comprising a nucleic acid molecule according to claim 1 operatively linked to an expression control sequence.
 8. An expression vector as claimed in claim 7, wherein the expression control sequence comprises a constitutive promoter.
 9. An expression vector as claimed in claim 8, wherein said promoter is selected from the group consisting of promoters from SV40, human cytomegalovirus (CMV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), EF1, and thymine kinase (TK) genes.
 10. An expression vector as claimed in claim 8, wherein said promoter is SV40.
 11. An expression vector as claimed in claim 10, wherein said SV40 promoter further comprises a CMV promoter TATA box.
 12. An expression vector as claimed in claim 7, wherein the expression control sequence comprises at least one operator sequence that is recognized by the DNA binding domain of the bacteriophage λ repressor protein.
 13. An expression vector as claimed in claim 12, wherein said at least one operator sequence is a bacteriophage A operator sequence.
 14. An expression vector as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a target gene.
 15. An expression vector as claimed in claim 14, wherein said target gene encodes a protein with therapeutic action.
 16. An expression vector as claimed in claim 14, wherein said target gene is operatively linked to at least one operator sequence that is recognized by the DNA binding domain of the bacteriophage λ repressor protein.
 17. An expression vector as claimed in claim 16, wherein said at least one operator sequence is a bacteriophage A operator sequence.
 18. An expression vector as claimed in claim 7, wherein the vector is a plasmid vector.
 19. An expression vector as claimed in claim 7, wherein the vector is a viral vector.
 20. An expression vector as claimed in claim 19, wherein the viral vector is selected from the group consisting of adenovirus vectors, adeno-associated virus vectors, retrovirus vectors, lentivirus vectors, and herpes simplex type I virus vectors.
 21. A host cell comprising an expression vector as claimed in claim
 7. 22. A host cell as claimed in claim 21, the host cell being selected from a group consisting of endothelial cells, lymphocytes, macrophages, hematopoietic cells, fibroblasts, muscle cells, liver cells, kidney cells, epithelial cells of the gastrointestinal tract, of the respiratory system, of the lower urinary tract, of the sexual organs, of the skin, glia cells, cells of the nervous system, tumour cells and leukemia cells.
 23. A pharmaceutical composition comprising an expression vector according to claim 7 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.
 24. An expression vector as claimed in claim 7 which is administered externally, perorally, intravesicularly, nasally, introbronchially or into the gastrointestinal tract, or which is injected into an organ, into a body cavity, into the muscle system, subcutaneously or into the blood circulation, for the prophylaxis or therapy of a disease.
 25. A kit comprising an expression vector as claimed in claim 7 and a pharmaceutically suitable carrier, wherein said expression vector is administered externally, perorally, intravesicularly, nasally, introbronchially or into the gastrointestinal tract, or which is injected into an organ, into a body cavity, into the muscle system, subcutaneously or into the blood circulation, for the prophylaxis or therapy of a disease.
 26. A host cell as claimed in claim 21, capable of activating transcription of a target gene upon exposure to coumermycin and capable of deactivating transcription of the target gene upon exposure to novobiocin. 